I see alot of vehicle questions on here so I thought I would try one. I have a Honda Accord LX. It's a 4 cylinder family car. I can't afford to go out and by a new rig so here lies the problem. I want to get a Tent trailer so I can take the family camping. The wife has a bad back and can't sleep on the ground in a conventional tent. I called the dealers and they said with the 4 cyl. I should only pull up to 1200 lbs. I don't want a small tent trailer cause of my size (It's not all fat, really) I've been thinking about this for awhile now and the only thing I can think of is to get a 6 cyl. engine. what does everyone think. Should I change the engine or should I change the wife? (J/K) What are some other options out there. Where would I begin to look for an engine other then paying dealer costs?...I would appreciate any ideas. Thanks ahead of time ... Nebb

For the cost of a new engine you could find a more apropriate used vehicle for towing. In addition to your motor, the extra load would be felt by your tranny, brakes, and drivelines. Would your current transmission even be compatible with a V6? Sounds like one big headache.

I would also take a look at the suspension. Even with a larger engine will the suspension on this front wheel drive car handle much more weight? Seems you could come up with a tow vehicle for about the same cash as the conversion and a whole lot less headaches.

Some friends of mine took a tent trailer camping a couple of weeks ago, over the pass. they towed it with their 86' nissan pickup which had a more than high enough rating to tow this ( or so it said) long story short totatly destroyed the back end, tweeked some of the rearend stuff way out of whack, I think you would be better off dumping a $1000 dollars into a used pickup. And trust me hondas ARE NOT MEANT TO BE WORKED ON!!! ever heard of a alternator replacement that involvles removing the master cylinder?

Nebb, what year accord? There are only a few years they put the v-6 in the accord. The trani ect,ect,ect will not drop right in. The other think to look at is the price of even a used v-6 for them, there spendy when you can find them. I would go out and buy a used old pick up or something and dump a few bucks in it. Just my .02

Nebb:

Take the advice from others.......look around and buy something that will pull the tent trailer. Would be soooooooooo much better to have "to much" pull vehicle than not enough. Just like people that have a big jet boat and a small jet motor, not that it doesn't work, just not the way to go.

"Worse day sport fishing, still better than the best day working".....

Nebb,

Also if you drop a larger engine into it you can run the risk of breaking axles if they are not rated for that size of engine.

Tyler

Is your Accord a front-wheel drive vehicle? If so, then don't plan to tow anything with it! (Unless, of course, you put the hitch on the FRONT bumper... )

Thanks to one and all for the advice. Looks like I need to get rid of the wife (j/k) ... I guess I had better research this some more. But it doesn't look to good. Maybe I can talk the wife into a new 6 pack. yeah right..... Thanks again.....

Hey, Nebb,

Why focus on the trailer? Why not focus on the problem, which is that your wife doesn't want to sleep on the ground? Get some high quality cots, and a decent mattress pad. Cost you about 150 bucks for each of you, tops, and problem is solved. That's what I did for my wife. Look at Cabelas for some good selections. A good quality cot will provide just as firm a mattress as anything in a trailer, for quite a bit less hassle and cost.

I've had two back surgeries, Owned a pop top camper (too small). Tent trailers still have to be set up and you can't tow a boat with one. Go get yourself a nice 3 season tent like Eureka Equinox and some quality cots like the CampTime made in Spokane. Once your off the ground and the heat sucking effect it has on your bones your wife will be fine. I have used the Equinox tent on the Peninsula in 4" per day rains and been dry. Less than $500.00 will outfit you with a nice tent and cots that will fold and fit in less than half your Honda's trunk. URL's follow
http://www.camptime.com/roll-a-cot.htm
http://www.eurekatent.com/equinox.asp

Happy Camping!

Hey, I have a '93 Explorer for sale, just dropped the price. Check the classifieds on this site. I currently tow my 18 foot Seaswirl with it, so a tent trailer shouldn't be an issue.

Andy